For those readers out there who don’t already know, I have asked Michelle to marry me and she has accepted (pictured below)!  This is the beginning of the seven month stretch to our wedding day and it is already starting to feel like a daunting exercise in overburdening yourself. Of course, we all know that making our significant other feel like the most loved person on Earth is the most important thing when you are in a relationship, so having the better part of a year full of excitement and activity isn’t a hard price to pay.  Anyway, in addition to the wedding we have many things that will be going on in the coming year and we kicked everything off with Christmas!

Two days ago, Michelle and I celebrated our first Christmas out at the farm.  It was great to see our massive tree, which we bought from a local farm, sitting in the corner of our living room for all who drive past our house to see (there are two very large windows which display it beautifully from the north and west sides of the house).  You may have read one of my earlier posts where I describe how those windows were what sold me on an otherwise run down farmhouse. Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year.  I don’t so much care about the gifts and parties, although I do appreciate them, but my real love is how it makes me feel about humanity.  People are always a little more kind to others, they are more giving to strangers, and there is an air of renewed hope for the future that comes with the impending new year.  The joyful spirit, no matter which of the holidays you celebrate around this time of year, which emanates from society at large makes me feel just that much better about everything.

I am excited about what this year will bring for Michelle and I.  As most of you who read my blogs already know, this homesteading adventure has come with a lot of new hobbies for me.  I use the term “hobby” very loosely because I have never been one to treat my hobby as a hobby.  I dive in head first and dedicate all of my spare time to my “hobbies”.  Right now, I have dedicated the bulk of that time to beekeeping and to blacksmithing.  This spring, Michelle and I will be ramping up our honey production by buying several more hives (5-10 total).  I am excited to see how the apiary grows as we add more bees to our family.  I’ll have to build some kind of structure, or at least find a better way to situate the hives, so they are easier to access and on more level ground than I did last year.  One hive is pretty easy to maneuver around no matter what, but 5-10 is not. I’m not sure what I am going to do exactly, but I am working on it.  As always, time and money are a factor, so we have to manage our desire with the amount of money we have to dedicate to it. The blacksmith shop is also undergoing some transformations.

I have filled my shop with various tools and equipments so I can make bigger and better things with less effort.  My latest project, a hatchet (pictured below), has come to near completion and I will be starting my next weapon.  I think I will be making a dagger or short sword.  I will also be remaking my forge and have designed what I think will be a much more efficient and useful forge than my current one.  I have most of the materials that I will need to make it and I will post pictures of it’s construction as I build it, but it is going to take some time to get what I don’t have (a money thing, of course).  For Christmas, Michelle bought me a tabletop belt sander which also has a disk sander on the side.  Even though I had a place to use one, thanks to my Dad, it will be really nice to be able to have my own sander and belts customized to my needs (wood sanding, metal grinding, and metal polishing). I am really excited about the things I will be able to do once I get the new forge built.  I gave Michelle a pair of waterproof, steel toed, leather work boots for Christmas so now she can come out and visit me in the shop without worrying about hot metal or things that would have pierced her more casual wear shoes.  She was very excited to get them and it made me happy to see how much she loved them.

As we round out this year and start preparing for the year to come, take the time to appreciate what you have.  I, in particular, am a very fortunate man.  I have had tragedies occur in my life that could have swallowed me whole, but because I have surrounded myself with the most trustworthy and honorable people possible, those tragedies will fade into memory. Two years ago, my entire world fell apart and everything I knew was cast into chaos.  Fast forward to now and I have the farm I’ve always wanted, have a beautiful/smart/funny fiance whom I love and adore (and who loves me back), a fully operational blacksmith shop I love to work in, and an apiary which provides me with hours of enjoyment (and honey!).  My non-blood related family are as fiercely loyal to me as I am to them, which is a rare commodity these days, and they are there to pester me almost every day (Michelle, Waterboard, Amber, Chaser, and Carrie). It is my hope that their lives are as enriched by me as mine is by them.  I love each and every one of you and am so very happy to have you in my life. To all of my readers, have a safe and happy new year.

I hope the new year brings a renewed sense of joy and hope to you and your family. Always be a steadfast pursuer of your dreams.  You may need to take some time to recover from life’s setbacks, but don’t stay there too long. Get back out and fight for what you want! No one is going to hand it to you.  Get out there and be the awesome “you” that you are meant to be!